Buying at auction, tips / experience / advice please

[Montifer]

We are currently under offer and have seen our 'dream house' which will be going to auction at the end of April.

If by some miracle we are able to complete before then (the chain does look as favourable as these things possibly can) it may become an option.

Any advice / tips would be gratefully appreciated.

TIA

hopeful bump for the evening property experts

No advice but we are also looking at an auction house at the moment.

What happens about surveys? Presumably you have to do it before you bid?

I understand that you have to be ready to complete at the auction, so searches, surveys etc must be done and 10% is payable with bankers draft on the day with 28 days to pay the balance.

My concern is that we might spend £1000 on all of the above and then the 1st bid is above our top price limit or worse our sale isn't completed so we can't even go to auction

You can do that anyway in a fast market where gazumping is rife. We bought at auction without a survey - to be honest, we could tell the flat was wrecked and needed everything doing so it seemed pretty pointless paying for one. I didn't attend the auction but my husband felt that dealers bid him up for sport once they realised that he was not a developer so we paid about £10k more than he felt we should have but probably about £25k less than if we had bought it conventionally. If I were to do it again, I would definitely bid by phone as I think it would stop this sort of thing and also make you less likely to get carried away.

You can always approach the auctioneer (or estate agency, there might be a board outside) about buying it prior to the auction. Lots of lots are withdrawn in house auctions.